Felix Abrahams Obi

Felix Abrahams Obi is a health systems, policy and financing expert with more than 20 years of experience in the design, implementation and evaluation of public health programs. His work spans polio and routine immunization, HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, maternal and newborn and child health, quality improvement, health systems strengthening, rehabilitation, health promotion, and behavior change management, among others.

As a senior program director within R4D’s global health practice and R4D Nigeria country director, Mr. Obi coordinates implementation of the Nigeria Primary Health Care Financing Technical Assistance project, funded by the Gates Foundation. Through the project, R4D provides technical assistance to federal and state government agencies in Nigeria to implement key health financing mechanisms and facilitate universal health coverage. He also oversees R4D’s portfolio of programs in health, nutrition, market shaping and other workstreams in Nigeria.

Before becoming country director, Mr. Obi served as program manager for the National Health Insurance Authority Leadership Development Program, also funded by the Gates Foundation. He was a key member of the Nigeria Health Care Financing Technical Assistance Project team and coordinated R4D’s technical support to the Nigerian government on implementation of the basic health care provision fund. He also served on the Demand-side Financing Project team, which worked on the design and implementation of social health insurance programs in Kaduna and Niger states. Mr. Obi supported the setup and implementation of Nigeria’s sub-national Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage and worked closely with the Federal Ministry of Health to develop a strategic communications plan for UHC under the auspices of the global Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage.

Before joining R4D, Mr. Obi served as health expert with the Nigeria country office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, where he led programs in polio eradication, HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, hospital management, quality improvement and other public health areas. He has provided technical consultancy to the Federal Ministry of Health, international development agencies, international nongovernmental organizations and foundations in support of public health interventions in Nigeria. He also served as the Abuja liaison and research uptake officer for the Health Policy Research Group of the University of Nigeria, under the DFID-funded Resilient and Responsive Health Systems research consortium coordinated by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. As lead on policy advocacy and research at the Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria, he headed the Secretariat of the Health Sector Reform Coalition of Nigeria, which championed advocacy for the passage and signing of Nigeria’s National Health Act in 2014.

As a UHC advocate, Mr. Obi focuses on translating research evidence into health policies and programs to improve universal access to quality care in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. His research interests include health policy and systems research, health financing, economics of health care, health sovereignty, development assistance for health, and the political economy and geopolitics of global health and development. He is experienced in evidence-to-policy translation, health media and strategic communication, evidence-based advocacy and policy engagement. He has led capacity-building initiatives training early-career researchers, practitioners and policymakers from Anglophone Africa in the design, implementation and evaluation of UHC policies and programs. He co-edited the Nigeria edition of the Africa Health Journal.

Mr. Obi serves on the Executive Committee of the African Health Economics and Policy Association and is a founding board member of the Public Health Foundation of Nigeria and a member of the Governing Board of the West African Network of Emerging Leaders in Health Systems and Policy. He represents the African continent on the Executive Board of Health Systems Global and serves on regional and global professional associations, expert panels and technical working groups.

Mr. Obi holds a bachelor’s degree in physiotherapy from Bayero University in Kano, Nigeria; a master’s degree in health planning and management from the University of Benin, Nigeria; and a master’s degree in psychology and health from the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.